Give me the freedom of a tight brief: Whats involved in curating a great brief
The Basics
David Ogilvy - “Give me the freedom of a tight brief”
While Oglivy may have been discussing advertising briefs, his famous quote seems just as applicable to the Events Industry; a clear and comprehensive event brief sets the stage for a seamless experience for both planners and attendees.
This week, we dive into what it takes to curate a great brief, looking at the best practices to avoid unnecessary supplier searches, changes of direction and unsuitable delivery. We’ve all been there.
First off, fine tuning the basics of your brief provides a great foundation to build further detail on. Event briefs should be full of nitty gritty details about all aspects of the occasion, from catering timings to the size of your presentation screen; adding as much detail as possible provides a fantastic base to build on.
“We need a venue for a conference in Central London next month, we’re looking for a unique space; we have 100 attendees and would like a hot lunch”
Briefs like this are move common than you’d think, we receive 100’s of 3 sentence briefs through Planit and it leave us scratching our heads.
It’s clear it lacks crucial information, which leaves far too much room for misinterpretation.
So let’s dive in to the basics, we get from our clients before starting any work
The Event: What is it, the objective and desired outcome, history of the event, what worked well last year, what didn’t.
Room Requirements & Attendees: Number of rooms, room size, seating style, natural daylight, avoid pillars, number of attendees, audience profile.
Audio Visual Requirements: Microphones, PA system, screen size, number of laptops, lectern for speakers, lighting setup, projectors, furniture, branding
Catering: Serving style - Plated, buffet or roaming, canapes, cuisine, number of courses, vegetarian or vegan options, beverage options, open-bar or roaming drinks, live-cooking stations.
Location: Overall location and specific location (e.g. Farringdon, London), close to transport links for attendees, close to local restaurants, close to another venue for a social event, close to hotels.
Date and Timings: Specific date or date range, timings for your event that are conscious of the event's activities.
Stakeholder: What do they usually like to see, do they have specific requirements, anything to avoid.
Directing attention towards your event brief in the early stages is THE key to a success; providing extensive details and clear expectations equips your event planner with the necessary information to deliver the perfect event. While these specific details are vital to hitting expectations, there are a plethora of other factors that can influence your approach to an event.
Here’s some more important considerations when writing an event brief
Brand Alignment & Audience Experience
When nailing a clear and effective brief, looking at the venue aesthetic and ambience is vital; ask questions such as - “What reflects the brand's personality and ethos?” “Who is attending my event?” and “What does my company do?”, the industry you operate in, who attends your events and how you present yourselves are all great to include in your brief inclusions.
Mentioning these can shape your ideal venue choices greatly; a finance/accounting company would feel a lot more suited to a cutting-edge conference environment; while a modern fashion design company will feel more at home in a Minimalist space with exposed character. Providing a quick insight into your company will allow your planners to mirror that in your supplier options.
As well as providing a nod at the desired venue aesthetic and ambience, mentioning your brand’s values and audience will influence your brief in terms of venue reputation, values and history. Consider aspects such as your brand's approach to sustainability, innovation and a focus on community - it’s great to align these with your venue! A charitable venue would be a great place to host an event as a B-Corp, and a high-end sustainable conference venue would be a great place to host a pharmaceutical company. Highlighting your brand values will allow your planner to mirror your image and give your event another personal touch.
Your brand's ethos, values and desired experience can also extend to you your catering choices, an element of an event brief that plays a crucial role in audience experience; and while amazing food options is a given for events, and mentioning the requirements in the basics is great practice, aligning these choices with company values can really elevate the event and leave a lasting impression.
These core values can shape aspects such as sustainable sourcing if you are a company who operates with green practices, or caterers who push culinary boundaries if your company priorities innovation and creativity. Look at popular catering trends in the event industry (take for example our insight into the increase in popularity of non-alcoholic beverages at events) to stay up to date with how you can align these trends with your brand image. Your Event Planner can then take time to coordinate your catering with your brand values; take a look at how we actioned this during our event with Zebox UK.
Also, looking beyond the aesthetics and considering how your audience’s experience may affect your venue functionality requirements too! As crucial as the atmosphere of an event is, neglecting certain aspects of functionality can be make-or-break; and laying the groundwork for these in the audience expectations can ensure all requirements are met with ease.
Establish what your audience may need to improve their experience and allow these to shape your brief inclusions - Think clear signage and simple access. Ensuring a note for adequate space for refreshment breaks and breakout sessions will avoid your attendees feeling cramped, and mentioning your maximum attendee number is vital to avoid overcrowding. Think how much the venue layout affects your planned activities; an uncomfortable and overcrowded event can make for some disgruntled attendees.
The importance of brand alignment & audience experience extends across numerous areas of the brief and can effectively shape all aspects of your basic brief inclusions, as well as the specifics. Introducing your brand early in the brief sets the stage for alignment throughout, and provides a clear roadmap for your planner to understand your vision and tailor their approach accordingly.
Budget vs Expectations
Both budget and expectations play a critical role in event planning, striking the perfect balance between these two elements can often be challenging, and sometimes results in some unhappy stakeholders. While your Event Planner is there to maximise the effectiveness of your budget allocation, it is important to map out both yours and your stakeholders expectations for this event.
Ask yourself - “What are the goals of this event?”, “Who is my audience and what are their preferences?” and “What is the most vital element of this event?” “what is a must have?”. Asking these questions before writing your brief inclusions allows for expert curation in terms of setting a realistic budget.
Establish what you want to spend your budget on; if your audience is expecting an immersive “wow” moment, that will become a pivotal section of the event brief, and should be mentioned in the initial stages to become the centre of attention.
It is also important to consider how the desired venue will affect your budget allocation, if you are requesting a state-of-the-art conference venue, it’s likely to come at a pretty penny! Which may lead to constraints in budget allocation elsewhere, such as your audio-visual or catering. Laying out your stakeholder and audience expectations in the early stages, paired with your insight into your brand alignments will avoid misinterpretations and unsuitable budget allocations.
It’s important to define these priorities so your event planner can bridge the gap when looking at your expectations, and finding the sweet spot between wants and needs often involves creative solutions and strategic adjustments. Exploring alternative approaches to delivery, such as hosting in older venues and sprucing up the place is a great way to allow for budget allocation in other areas such as catering and AV.
Transparent communication when dealing with event budgets is essential in order to line up with expectations. At Planit, we are all Open-book accounting so both financial decision makers and event planners know where their money is really going.
Objectives
While meeting stakeholders objectives in regard to budget is vital, setting objectives for your event itself is great practice. Planning an event without setting clearly defined objectives is like embarking on a road trip with no destination or map, filled with detours, confusion and eventually frustration.
Objectives should be the guiding light in your event planning process, which is why mentioning these objectives in your brief is vital to keep your event planner informed and up to date. These objectives can also be influenced by your mission and vision statements, and can allow your planner to understand where to focus their efforts and time allocation, through prioritising certain activities and resources that will directly contribute to achieving your objectives, and
In terms of making these objectives clear, well-structured and easy to share with stakeholders, ensure that your objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound (SMART). This makes for easy tracking of your objectives, and provides a strong direction and focus to ensure your planners are working towards what your stakeholders are expecting.
Event Agenda
It’s equally as important to be setting a clear agenda for your event itself; providing top-line info on the activities that will be taking place can give your event brief that extra step in curation. During the early stages of your event, this agenda does not need to be completely structured minute-by-minute, but a vague idea on some of the key occurrences is a great way to shape an image of your event.
Remember, when setting this top line agenda to allocate time wisely, factor in breaks, transitions and buffer time; and align these agenda with your objectives mentioned previously, ensure that the activities contribute towards achieving the overall event goals. For example, an event that holds “connect industry professionals and inspire co-creation” as a key objective, make that a focal point in your agenda. Laying this out early in the planning process can allow your planner to tailor the event around this agenda; if you mention “an evening drinks reception for attendees post-event” in the agenda, your planner can get a headstart on this by exploring venues that can offer this early on.
By prioritising the creation of a compelling and informative brief, you transform the event planning from a potentially confusing experience, with many unnecessary changes, into a well-organised and engaging journey for both yourself, and your stakeholders. Use this brief as a blueprint to clearly outline your vision and objectives, and build on those essential details so everyone is on the same page.
Remember, a well-crafted brief is the cornerstone to early-success in an environment as fast paced as the event Industry. Use these considerations to shape your future briefs and foster clear communication and collaboration.